Murder Trial Leads To Political Scandal In China

Books on Gu Kailai with her portrait in the cover are displayed at a book shop in Hong Kong. (AP/Vincent Yu, File)

A typhoon blew into the city of Heifei in China on Wednesday, as the country’s most high profile trial in decades got underway. The details in the case are in the category of “if it hadn’t happened, you wouldn’t believe it.”

The case has exposed epic levels of corruption, and naked jockeying of power at the highest levels of the Communist party. Both Gu and Bo are members of the so-called Red Aristocracy, descendants of top Communist leaders.

Gu, the accused, is also one of China’s most prominent lawyers. She is celebrated especially for a case she helped Chinese companies win in Mobile, Ala. where some still think of her as the “Jackie Kennedy of China.”